8:5,6These merchants were keeping the religious festivals, but not in spirit. They couldn't wait for the holy days and Sabbaths to be over so they could go back to making money. Their real interest was in enriching themselves, even if that meant cheating (shortchanging the quantity while boosting the price, or even selling chaff as wheat). Do you take a day to rest and worship God at least once a week, or is making money more important to you than anything else? When you give time to God, is your heart in your worship? Or is-your religion only a front for unethical practices?
Life Application Study BibleAmosChapter 8
Amos 8
New Living Translation · Life Application Study Bible · Original pages: 1447, 1448, 1449
A few verse numbers on this page were hard to read in the scan and are marked with a dotted underline — compare with the original page image if in doubt.
8Amos 8
A Vision of Ripe Fruit
1Then the Sovereign LORD showed me another vision. In it I saw a basket filled with ripe fruit. 2“ What do you see, Amos?” he asked. I replied, “A basket full of ripe fruit.” Then the LORD said, “Like this fruit, Israel is ripe for punishment! I will not delay their punishment again. 3In that day the singing in the Temple will turn to wailing. Dead bodies will be scattered everywhere. They will be carried out of the city in silence. I, the Sovereign Lor, have spoken!”
4Listen to this, you who rob the poorand trample down the needy!
5You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be overand the religious festivals to endso you can get back to cheating the helpless.You measure out grain with dishonest measuresand cheat the buyer with dishonest scales.*
6And you mix the grain you sellwith chaff swept from the floor.Then you enslave poor peoplefor one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.
7Now the LORD has sworn this oathby his own name, the Pride of Israel*:“T will never forgetthe wicked things you have done!
8The earth will tremble for your deeds,and everyone will mourn.The ground will rise like the Nile River at floodtime;it will heave up, then sink again.
9“Tn that day,” says the Sovereign LORD,“I will make the sun go down at noonand darken the earth while it is still day.10 { will turn your celebrations into times of mourningand your singing into weeping.You will wear funeral clothesand shave your heads to show your sorrow—as if your only son had died.How very bitter that day will be!
11“The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign LORD,“when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or waterbut of hearing the words of the LORD.
12People will stagger from sea to seaand wander from border to border*searching for the word of the LORD,but they will not find it.
13Beautiful girls and strong young menwill grow faint in that day,thirsting for the LORD’s word.
14And those who swear by the shameful idols of Samaria—who take oaths in the name of the god of Danand make vows in the name of the god of Beersheba*—they will all fall down,never to rise again.”
A Vision of God at the Altar
Then I saw a vision of the LORD standing beside the altar.“Strike the tops of the Temple columns,so that the foundation will shake.Bring down the roofon the heads of the people below.I will kill with the sword those who survive.
Textual footnotes
- 8:5 Hebrew You make the ephah [a unit for measuring grain} small and the shekel! [a unit of weight] great, and you deal falsely by using deceitful balances.
- 8:7 Hebrew the pride of Jacob. See note on 3:13.
- 8:12 Hebrew from north to east.
- 8:14 Hebrew the way of Beersheba.
Life Application Notes 2 notes
8:11-13The people had no appetite for God’s word when prophets like Amos brought it. Because of their apathy, God said he would take away even the opportunity to hear his word. We have God’s Word, the Bible. But many still look everywhere for answers to life's problems except in Scripture. You can help them by directing them to the Bible, showing them the parts that speak to their special needs and questions. God’s Word is available to us. Let us help people know it before a time comes when they cannot find it.
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Study feature · page 1449
He said,